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Thread: Robert Keith Woodall - Kentucky Death Row

  1. #11
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    SCOTUS may reinstate death penalty for KY inmate

    Robert Woodall was sentenced to die after a jury found him guilty for the murder of 16-year-old Sarah Hansen in 1997.

    Hansen disappeared in January of 1997 after going into a store in Greenville, KY. Her remains were later found in Luzerne Lake.

    In 2009, more than a decade after the murder, a federal judge overturned the death sentence on the grounds that jurors were improperly instructed before sentencing. It was also brought up that Woodall did not get the chance to object to the dismissal of a black juror.

    Now, the Supreme Court has granted the prosecutor's appeal, which could lead to a possible reinstatement of the death penalty for this Kentucky inmate.

    The case will be heard later this year or in the spring of next year.

    http://www.whas11.com/news/SCOTUS-to...213362171.html

  2. #12
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    US Supreme Court to hear appeal in Ky death penalty case in December

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal in a Kentucky death penalty case before the year is out.

    The justices set a Dec. 11 hearing date for the case of 39-year-old Robert Keith Woodall.

    The high court will decide if an error in jury instructions means Woodall should get a second chance to spare his life. Kentucky prosecutors are seeking to reinstate the death sentence for Woodall, who pleaded guilty in 1998 to abducting and killing 16-year-old Sarah Hansen from a convenience store in Greenville.

    The court will consider whether the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals erred in upholding a decision to overturn Woodall's death sentence.

    The justices will also weigh whether the appeals court followed precedent regarding how it reviewed the state court decision.

    http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...nce-Overturned
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  3. #13
    Moderator MRBAM's Avatar
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    SCOTUS Case 12/11/13

    12-794 WHITE V. WOODALL
    DECISION BELOW: 685 F.3d 574
    CERT. GRANTED 6/27/2013

    QUESTION PRESENTED:

    Robert Keith Woodall, amidst overwhelming evidence of his guilt, pled guilty to kidnapping, raping, and murdering a 16-year-old child, and thus pled guilty to all aggravating circumstances. At the penalty phase trial, the prosecutor elected to present evidence of guilt and the circumstances of the crimes. Woodall did not testify; and his request that the jury be instructed not to draw any adverse inference from his decision not to testify (a "no adverse inference instruction") was denied. He was sentenced to death by a Kentucky jury. The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed.

    Even though this Court has never held that a defendant is entitled to a no adverse inference instruction at the sentencing phase of a trial where the defendant has pled guilty to the offense and all aggravating circumstances, the Sixth Circuit granted habeas relief to Woodall on the ground that the trial court's failure to provide such an instruction violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The questions presented are:

    1. Whether the Sixth Circuit, violated 28 U.S.C. §2254(d)(1) by granting habeas relief on the trial court's failure to provide a no adverse inference instruction even though this Court has not "clearly established" that such an instruction is required in a capital penalty phase when a non-testifying defendant has pled guilty to the crimes and aggravating circumstances.

    2. Whether the Sixth Circuit violated the harmless error standard in Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619 (1993), in ruling that the absence of a no adverse inference instruction was not harmless in spite of overwhelming evidence of guilt and in the face of a guilty plea to the crimes and aggravators.

    LOWER COURT CASE NUMBER: 09-5352, 09-5406

  4. #14
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JimKay's Avatar
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    Court: Should Man Get New Sentence in Murder Case

    The Supreme Court is considering whether to give a new sentencing hearing to a man who confessed to kidnapping, raping and killing a 16-year-old girl in Kentucky.

    The justices heard arguments Wednesday over Robert Keith Woodall 's death sentence. Woodall pleaded guilty to kidnapping Sarah Hansen on Jan. 25, 1997, from a convenience store in western Kentucky. Woodall acknowledged that he raped the girl and slit her throat twice before taking her body to Luzerne Lake and throwing it in the water.

    A federal appeals court threw out his death sentence because a judge refused to tell the jury not to draw any conclusions about his choice not to take the stand at his 1998 capital sentencing hearing.

    Justices are expected to make a decision sometime next year.

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireS...-case-21180748

  5. #15
    Moderator MRBAM's Avatar
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    Did anyone listen to the audio from the hearing? I'm curious if the justices' questions gave any hints as to how they might be looking to rule.

  6. #16
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    WHITE, WARDEN v. WOODALL

    The Supreme Court reverses the Sixth Circuit in yet another habeas case

    In today’s other decision, the Supreme Court reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in a habeas case (for those who follow either court, that sentence almost writes itself).

    Today’s reversal came in White v. Woodall. In this case, a death-row inmate challenged his capital sentence because the judge had failed to provide the jury with a no-adverse-inference instruction concerning the defendant’s refusal to testify during the penalty phase of his trial. This failure, a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit concluded, violated Woodall’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

    The Supreme Court, 6-3, held that the trial court’s failure to provide the desired jury instruction was not objectively unreasonable or contrary to clearly established law, and therefore Woodall did not satisfy the requirements for habeas relief under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA).

    Justice Scalia wrote the majority opinion, joined by the Chief Justice, and Justices Kennedy, Thomas, Alito, and Kagan. Justice Breyer dissented, joined by Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/v...r-habeas-case/
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  7. #17
    Moderator Dave from Florida's Avatar
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    Now the big question is whether Kentucky is ever going to resolve their LI issues and execute Woodall.

  8. #18
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    ​Related:

    Kentucky Supreme Court rules death penalty IQ law is unconstitutional


    By Jason Riley
    WDRB News

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state's practice for determining if someone is mentally competent to receive the death penalty is “unconstitutional” and has established new guidelines.

    The order changing Kentucky’s rules on capital punishment came in the case of Robert Keith Woodall, who was sentenced to death for raping and killing a 16-year-old girl in Greenville two decades ago.

    The high court ordered a lower court to hold a hearing to determine if Woodall is intellectually disabled, preventing him from being executed.

    It is unconstitutional to sentence a mentally disabled person to death – which has been defined in Kentucky as someone with an IQ below 70.

    However, Kentucky's high court ruled a person cannot be found competent simply because they have an IQ of 71 or above. Instead, the justices determined defendants must undergo a “totality of the circumstances test,” including whether they have the ability to learn basic skills and adjust their behavior to circumstances, among other guidelines.

    Those standards are in line with guidelines established by the U.S. Supreme Court that take other factors into account, according to the ruling. The federal court, for example, bars states from using a single, strict IQ standard to determine a prisoner's competency.

    In its ruling, the Kentucky high court found the state's current law to be “an outdated test for ascertaining intellectually disability."

    Kentucky was one of only a few states still using the fixed score cutoff to determine mental competence.

    Justice Sam Wright disagreed with the other high court judges that Kentucky’s current law is unconstitutional, arguing that judges already must hold a hearing to determine beyond a reasonable doubt that a person is eligible for the death penalty.

    Woodall pleaded guilty to kidnapping Sarah Hansen on Jan. 25, 1997, from a convenience store in western Kentucky, according to a story by the Associated Press. Woodall acknowledged that he raped the girl and slit her throat twice before throwing her in a lake. DNA evidence, fingerprints and footprints led to Woodall.

    A jury sentenced Woodall to death, but a psychiatrist has since testified he was “intellectually disabled,” according to the ruling. The case has been sent back to Caldwell Circuit Court.

    http://www.wdrb.com/story/38426412/k...constitutional
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